


Missing

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Rumors and Shadows [2]
Category: Farscape
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Gen, Starburst Challenge 74
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The story is not yet finished, but as I've posted the first chapter on <a href="http://terrafirmascapers.com">Terra Firma</a>, I thought I would post it here as well. Updates are likely to be sporadic, rather than regular, but the story will be finished sooner or later.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The story is not yet finished, but as I've posted the first chapter on [Terra Firma](http://terrafirmascapers.com), I thought I would post it here as well. Updates are likely to be sporadic, rather than regular, but the story will be finished sooner or later.

"You brought back a small Crichton."

Bialar can see entirely too much of the human in the small child who's currently sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees in the only comfortable chair in the rented house. At least the child doesn't show any signs of recognizing him, which is more than he might have asked for, had he known Crichton had offspring.

"It certainly seemed a better course of action than leaving him where I found him."

Teeg is cutting one of the fruits she brought back from her trip into the market into thirds, offering one of them to the boy. He takes it with a brief smile, and bites off a small piece to taste before eating the rest of the piece with little more politeness than a Hynerian.

Bialar accepts one of the other pieces, watching the boy with something between curiosity and annoyance. If the boy is Crichton's child, then an encounter with the human seems inevitable, particularly since they cannot truly leave the planet until Talyn has returned from his current activities.

"The merchants in whose stall he was offered to sell him to me, claiming he was an orphan they no longer had the ability to feed or house." Teeg smiles, and the expression is one that makes Bialar wonder if the merchants in question still retained all their limbs. "I told them he was the son of a fellow officer, and if they did not release him into my custody, they would not be requiring any further compensation for their goods."

"You know my mom?"

The boy's voice is like any child's as far as Bialar can tell, piping and higher pitched than any adult's. Nothing in it to suggest that he's Crichton's offspring, either in the tone or the language used - he's speaking not in Crichton's Earth-language, but in Sebacian.

"Who is your mother?"

Bialar crouches in front of the boy, as he recalls his own father doing when he wished to talk with Bialar or Tuavo. Watching the expression on the boy's face - there's fear there, to be expected, but there's also hope and curiosity, both of which seem to be stronger than the fear.

"Aeryn Sun." The boy glances past Bialar to Teeg, then back again. "My dad is John Crichton."

"Of that much, I am certain." Bialar smiles at the boy, though he's uncertain how much that will put the child at ease. "I know both your mother and your father, however, I have not seen either of them since before you were born."

How long it had been before the boy had been born, Bialar is uncertain, but certainly before the boy was known to exist, even as a fetus. Aeryn had made no mention of being pregnant before the starburst that should have killed both Bialar and Talyn.

"Can you take me back to them?"

The boy's gaze is darting between Bialar and Teeg, hope the strongest emotion on his face. It's something Bialar is loathe to crush, but he also knows that any encounter with Crichton and Aeryn is one he would prefer to avoid. There are explanations he does not care to make, and a life that he does not wish them to interfere with.

"I have already hired a local to watch for Crichton, and provided them the image which I have retained of him."

Teeg's mission when she'd left the carrier had been to find some other manner of capturing Crichton, as it was quite possible that a single Peacekeeper working alone might have a better chance of locating him and bringing him in. Though she'd stopped that search once Bialar had found her - to his surprise, as he still has the memory of killing her, no matter that it had meant to be a lie to cover their work - she still had the tools with which to continue.

The boy smiles, and launches himself off the chair to wrap his arms around Teeg's waist in a gesture that Bialar is certain is one of thanks. Though it amuses him to see the surprise and faint alarm on Teeg's face, however momentarily.

"Thank you!"

"Once Crichton has been located, I can remain here to return the boy while you take my Prowler back to Talyn, sir."

Bialar stands, nodding once. "That would be preferable."

Crichton may not remember Teeg sufficiently to identify her, which makes her choice ideal. Although, from the expression on the boy's face, it is not one which appeals to him.

"But if you haven't seen my mom and dad in years, you should wait for them, so you can see them again, and catch up."

That last phrase is purely Crichton, and Bialar hides a wince at it. He has some understanding of what it means, but it does not translate well, regardless.

"I am afraid I cannot do so, Crichton. Your parents and I did not part on the best of terms."

The boy's frown deepens, and he turns to face Bialar fully, crossing his arms over his chest. He's clearly trying to be intimidating, though the effect is perhaps less impressive than it is in the boy's head.

"Then you should stay, and apologize for what you did, and dad can apologize for whatever he did, and then you won't be upset at each other any more."

Behind the boy, Teeg has a small smile on her face, and she arches an eyebrow at Bialar, almost daring him to explain to the boy just what he truly meant by not parting on the best terms. It wasn't as if they hadn't parted as allies and perhaps something of friends, but Bialar would still prefer they did not know of his continued existance. He particularly did not wish them to know Talyn was still alive, as it had taken a good deal of effort after their near-death to restore the trust between them, and Talyn's stability.

Although, if they had arrived aboard Moya, there is a good chance that they are already aware of Talyn's survival, and may have figured out that he, too, still lives. Regardless of that chance, though, he cannot risk being seen by Crichton or Aeryn, and confirm any suspicions they might have about his living or dying.

"I cannot." Bialar gets back to his feet before the boy can come closer to him, making his way toward the back room to fetch the transponder. If Talyn is still occupied with the young female Leviathan they'd encountered at the outskirts of the system, he will have to put aside whatever he has in mind. Bialar does not intend to be anywhere that Crichton might find him, and they can easily pick up work elsewhere to keep busy until Teeg requires retrieval.

* * *

After nearly a weeken with no sighting of Crichton - or Officer Sun, once Teeg had given her contact a suitable image - Teeg is beginning to worry about the chances of returning D'argo to his parents. If there is still no sign of them after another solar day, she'll purchase a small ship to take herself and the boy to the planet she and Crais use for their base of operations, and rejoin her captain. What they'll do with a small and vulnerable being, she isn't certain, but at least once she's aboard Talyn again, she won't feel as exposed.

"Why haven't you found my mom and dad yet?"

D'argo is perched on the table, carefully peeling the roots she'd given him to prepare. He seems to think his parents would not have left the planet without searching everywhere, which would of course mean that her contact would have to have seen them.

"I have not located them because they have not crossed paths with my contact, and I can neither leave you here alone nor have you accompany me while I conduct my own search." Teeg slices the roots for boiling, watching the boy for a long moment. "I do not trust the people of this planet not to attempt to remove you from my care in order to do as the merchants attempted a weeken ago."

D'argo makes a face, looking down at the pile of peels. "Maybe I should have gone with Captain Crais to Talyn, so you could have looked for mom and dad?" He looks up at her again, an uncertain expression on his face. He looks almost anxious, she thinks, and Teeg shakes her head.

"If you had gone with Captain Crais, the logistics of returning you to your parents would have been greatly complicated."

"Because Captain Crais doesn't want to see my parents again. Why doesn't he want to see them?" D'argo has asked her the same question several times over the past weeken, but Teeg has done what she can to avoid answering it.

"That is a question which I am not permitted to answer." Teeg takes the root D'argo's just finished peeling from him, so she can set the pot on the cooking unit. "However, you may ask Captain Crais again in another weeken, if your parents have not been seen by tomorrow."

D'argo frowns, his brow furrowing. "Is he coming back for us?"

"No. There is, however, a place where he will expect me if I have completed the mission, or determined that the risk of remaining is too great to continue waiting."

Teeg glances at the pile of peels before looking back at D'argo, raising an eyebrow silently. He rolls his eyes in response, but clears the peels from the table, depositing them in the waste bin for later disposal.

"How will you find my mom and dad if we leave this planet?" D'argo hoists himself back onto the table, his feet dangling over the edge as he watches Teeg.

"I will leave a message with my contact to pass on if he sees them, and I am sufficiently well-known in this part of the Uncharted Territories for your parents to locate my base of operations." Teeg stands easily on the balls of her feet, glancing at each of the windows of the room as a matter of habit, noting the lack of change. "Indeed, it is possible that when they could not locate you, they went to make contact, and there is a message awaiting my return."

She doubts that is the case, if only because Crais would have returned to inform her of such a thing. It is one of the most useful things about Talyn, that they can travel at a faster pace than most other ships.

"What if there isn't?" The boy is annoyingly perceptive, giving her a skeptical look as he kicks his feet. "What if mom and dad are still here, looking?"

"Than I will expect them to cross paths with my contact, and recieve my message. Or to have them contact me at a later point to search for you." That is, after all, one of the things she had done quite a bit of to fund her initial mission, and has done since simply to keep herself and Crais from becoming bored.

"What if they don't?"

Now there's worry in D'argo's voice, and Teeg turns to look at him, studying his expression and movements. His shoulders are hunched, and there's a frightened expression on his face.

"If they are unable to continue searching for you, or to contact me to do such for them, then Captain Crais and I shall ensure your safety and education until such time as we are able to locate Crichton and Officer Sun, or until they contact us." It's a very simple thing, and Teeg is uncertain why it would not occur to the child that he would not be left alone. A cadet is never abandoned entirely, though they may be shunted to a less-desirable creche, and despite D'argo being neither a pure Sebacian nor a Peacekeeper cadet, Teeg knows Crais would not allow him to be abandoned simply because they are unable to locate his parents.


	2. Chapter 2

Bialar settles into the booth which serves as an office for himself and Teeg when they are available for contracts, watching the patrons of the bar. The job from a regular client that had been waiting when he had returned had only taken six solar days, which leaves him in need of something else to keep him occupied - Teeg will return here for retrieval when she's returned the boy to Crichton and Aeryn.

The barmaid comes to the table an arn after his arrival, setting down a glass of raslak and a data chip. Bialar automatically looks toward the bar in search of the potential client, but no one there is paying attention to the booth. That makes him wary as well as curious, and he picks up the data chip in a gloved hand, turning it between his fingers for a long moment before sliding it into the portable reader he's used before. It wouldn't be the first time a client preferred not to discuss the details of a job in person.

Instead of a job, though, it's a threat, and one that makes Bialar clench his jaw, restraining the urge to crush the data chip once it's been ejected from the reader. At least now he knows something of why the boy had been apparently abandoned by Crichton and Aeryn, despite his doubts that they would be willing to do so with their offspring.

He doesn't move immediately, instead silently informing Talyn of the change of plans. Bialar knows he could be watched, and reacting too soon could be as disastrous as waiting too long to return to Ashalon. Only when the bar closes does he leave, as he might normally do without a job that requires immediate action, and returns to the spaceport where the prowler waits for him to return to Talyn.

Next to it is another small, sleek ship that has the same red coloring as Talyn. Not a transport pod, not with the weapons it holds, but something akin to the ubiquitous shuttles that Leviathans all possess, if more controllable by Talyn than a similar ship might be. An escort for Bialar's return, after he's made sure no one has been foolish enough to attempt to trap or track the prowler.

_/What if Teeg's left Ashalon?/_ It's a very pertinent question, as Bialar is aware his loyal lieutenant would do that if the time elapsed waiting for Crichton or Aeryn had gone too long.

_/Then we scan the routes between Ashalon and here, and find the ship she hired to transport her and the boy./_ Bialar powers up the prowler, and lifts from the planet's surface in a graceful arc, Talyn's pod following behind in escort. They're taking no chances.

* * *

Her contact still has nothing to share with her on news of Crichton or Officer Sun, though he does mention there are more mercenaries of the less-savory sort making use of his favorite tavern. Enough more that he's planning on finding somewhere else for a while - he's not particularly keen on being found himself, and Ashalon is becoming too crowded for his tastes. It's enough to make Teeg look for a suitable ship to take passage back to her base of operations. Or perhaps to simply take, for suitable compensation.

D'Argo stays close, almost glued to her side, with his hair carefully slicked back in the manner of a Peacekeeper cadet, and with a uniform cut down and modified from Teeg's spare. She'll have to take the boy to her preferred tailor later to have a proper one made for him, as well as a new one made for herself.

Her hand rests on his shoulder, her expression carefully blank, as they make their way through one of the sectors of the port, studying the ships in the dim light cast by the night lamps. It wouldn't do to come in broad daylight, when it's easier to make out features, regardless of the species of the hunter. Only now, when it is harder to tell who they are, and when she's more likely to find someone who'll look the other way for a few extra credits, and leave quickly.

"My parents aren't here, are they?" D'Argo whispers when they're between ships, glancing at her over his shoulder a moment before fixing his gaze on the ground in front of his feet again. There's some of the same fear as had been in his expression when they'd had a similar conversation nearly a weeken ago.

"It's unlikely." Teeg pauses a moment, frowning, and drawing D'Argo closer to the relative safety of a ship's strut, deeper into the shadows, and turns him to face her before she continues. "Nor is it likely that they are safely away to elsewhere to seek reputable assistance. I do not know what the interest in you would be after you were abandoned, unless the intent is to use you as leverage against one or the other, after the use of whichever was deemed more expendable failed to gain their captors what they desired."

D'Argo draws in a shuddering breath, and Teeg frowns, hoping that she has not made the situation worse by laying out the truth to the boy. It is nothing more or less than she would have done with a cadet, though at least a cadet would not be expected to know or care about their parents, nor their parents for them.

"Will you be able to find them?" The question is not what she's expecting, and Teeg is silent a moment, until D'Argo repeats the question more insistently.

"Once I have the usual resources I have access to, I shall do my best, but I cannot promise to locate them, or if I do, to locate them alive and well." Teeg doesn't elaborate on that - D'Argo is too young for that sort of detail yet, as any cadet would be. There is no need to impress that on his mind unless - until - he sees it for himself.

"But you will try?" D'Argo reaches up to grip her hand where it still rests on her shoulder. "Pinky-promise?"

"I do not know what that means." Teeg expects that it is some form of oath that Crichton taught his offspring, and isn't terribly interested in becoming acquainted with it.

D'Argo, though, clearly has other ideas, hooking his smallest finger around hers. "Pinky-promise."

Teeg looks down at him, though she cannot truly see him in the shadows, and lets out a quiet sigh after a moment. "I promise that I shall do what I can to locate Crichton and Officer Sun."

"Good. Thank you." D'Argo shifts his grip so he's holding onto her hand. "We still need to find a ship to get off planet, don't we?"

"Yes." Teeg resists the urge to sigh again, extracting her hand from the boy's, and turning him to face forward again, her hand resting firmly on his shoulder. She hopes they find a ship soon, if for no other reason than she can hide the boy better on Kerathos, and no local there would give up another to an outsider - and she's been based from the planet long enough that she's considered local.


End file.
